Fairfield Hills Closing Expected At The End Of The Month

By Jan Howard

The state is optimistic there will be a closing on the purchase of the Fairfield Hills campus by April 30, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal told members of the Board of Selectmen at their meeting Monday at the C.H. Booth Library.

Mr Rosenthal said he has been meeting on a weekly basis with Richard Nuclo of the Strategic Management Division of the state’s Office of Policy and Management and town and state attorneys regarding outstanding issues regarding the purchase.

“Issues are becoming resolved,” Mr Rosenthal said. He noted that the town’s environmental attorneys have been speaking with the Department of Environmental Protection regarding the town’s remedial action plan for the property and the state’s covenant not to sue if the town follows that plan.

He said that some issues regarding water need to be resolved, such as an ordinance establishing the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) as a Combined Water and Sewer Authority. The Legislative Council conducted a public hearing regarding this ordinance Wednesday night.

The WPCA has chosen Aquarian as the new management company to run the water and sewer systems.

Mr Rosenthal said once the closing has taken place, he would like to have some celebratory event to mark the purchase of the property.

The selectmen voted unanimously Monday to do a study of the cost effectiveness of renovation versus demolition of Plymouth Hall on the Fairfield Hills campus at such time reuse of the building is considered. A similar study was authorized for Shelton House.

Selectman Joe Bojnowski, while in favor of the study, said consideration has to be given to how long it would be before the building is reused. “It could be there for some time continuing to deteriorate,” he said.

He noted that if the building were “mothballed,” the town would be putting money into it year after year.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he would look into the cost of preserving the building.

During public participation, resident Ruby Johnson had raised the issue about the future use of Plymouth Hall for town, school, parks and recreation, or other uses.

Because of abatement and roof improvements already made to the building, she suggested it could be renovated for use as a high school facility or as a temporary facility for Canaan House personnel if it was decided to renovate Canaan as a town hall. She noted that the Board of Education had looked at Plymouth Hall for possible use prior to its decision to build Reed Intermediate School.

Mr Rosenthal also informed the board that the Connecticut Center for Survey Research and Analysis is in the process of revising its proposal for a public opinion survey regarding changes the selectmen recently made to the Fairfield Hills Master Plan.